Up for auction “Harvard University” Josiah Quince III Clipped Signature . This item is
certified authentic by Todd Mueller and comes with their Certificate of
Authenticity.
Josiah
Quincy III (/ˈkwɪnzi/; February 4, 1772 – July 1, 1864) was an American
educator and political figure. He was a
member of the U.S. House
of Representatives (1805–1813), Mayor of Boston (1823–1828), and President of Harvard University (1829–1845).
The historic Quincy Market in
downtown Boston is named in his honor. Quincy, the son of Josiah Quincy II and Abigail Phillips, was born in
Boston, on that part of Washington Street that was then known as Marlborough
Street. He was a descendant of the Rev. George Phillips of Watertown, the progenitor
of the New England Phillips family in America. Quincy's
father had traveled to England in 1774, partly for his health but mainly as an
agent of the patriot cause to meet with the friends of the colonists in London.
Josiah Quincy II died off the coast of Gloucester on April 26, 1775. His son,
young Josiah, was a little over three years old. He entered Phillips Academy, Andover, when it opened in 1778, and
graduated from Harvard in 1790. After his graduation from Harvard he studied
law for three years under the tutorship of William Tudor. Quincy was admitted to the bar in 1793, but was
never a prominent advocate. In 1797 Quincy married Eliza Susan Morton of New
York, younger sister of Jacob Morton. They had seven children: Eliza Susan
Quincy, Josiah Quincy, Jr., Abigail
Phillips Quincy, Maria Sophia Quincy, Margaret Morton Quincy, Edmund Quincy, and Anna
Cabot Lowell Quincy. In 1798 Quincy was appointed Boston Town Orator by the
Board of Selectmen, and in 1800 he was elected to the School Committee. Quincy
became a leader of the Federalist party in Massachusetts, was an unsuccessful candidate for the United
States House of Representatives in 1800, and served in
the Massachusetts Senate
in 1804–5. He was elected a Fellow of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1803.From 1805 to 1813, he was a member of
the United
States House of Representatives where he was one of the small
Federalist minority. In the dark days of the Embargo in the second term of
President Thomas Jefferson, he
suggested his impeachment. He attempted to secure the exemption of fishing
vessels from the Embargo Act, urged the
strengthening of the United States Navy, and
vigorously opposed the admittance of Louisiana as a state in 1811. In this last matter he
stated as his "deliberate opinion, that if this bill passes, the bonds of
this Union are virtually dissolved; that the States that compose it are free
from their moral obligations; and that, as it will be the right of all, so it
will be the duty of some, to prepare definitely for a separation, amicably if
they can, violently if they must." This was probably the first assertion of the
right of secession on the floor of Congress. Quincy left Congress because he
saw that the Federalist opposition was useless. In 1812, Quincy was a founding
member of the American Antiquarian
Society. After leaving Congress, Quincy was a member of the
Massachusetts Senate until 1820. In 1821–22 he was a member and speaker of
the Massachusetts
House of Representatives. Quincy resigned from the legislature to
become judge of the municipal court of Boston. Quincy was a candidate for Mayor of Boston in Boston's first election under a city
charter, held on April 8, 1822. The votes of this first election were
evenly split between Quincy and Harrison Gray Otis,
with a few votes to others. Neither Quincy nor Otis had a majority, so neither
was elected. They both withdrew their candidacies, and John Phillips was
elected Boston's first mayor. In 1823 Quincy was elected as the second
mayor of Boston; he served six-one year terms from 1823 to 1828 During his
terms as mayor Quincy Market was
built, the fire and police departments were reorganized, and the city's care of
the poor was systematized. In 1829, Quincy was elected as a member to the American Philosophical
Society. From 1829 to 1845, he was President of Harvard University, of
which he had been an overseer since 1810, when the board was reorganized. At a
time when college presidents were chosen for their intellectual achievements,
Quincy's past experience as a politician and not an academic made him an
unusual choice. He has been called "the great organizer
of the university." He gave an elective (or "voluntary") system
an elaborate trial; introduced a system of marking (on the scale of 8) on which
college rank and honors, formerly rather carelessly assigned, were based; first
used courts of law to punish students who destroyed or damaged college
property; and helped to reform the finances of the university. During his term
Dane Hall (for law) was dedicated, Gore Hall was built, and the Astronomical
Observatory was equipped. Quincy House, one of the
university's twelve upperclass residential houses, is named for him.